| Major standards have been established in several countries and
regions around the world to assess how sustainable projects are.
The standards that apply to PB’s primary areas of business
are introduced below. The information that follows is not all inclusive,
however, as many governments, universities, and private companies
across the globe are currently developing tools to help them design
in a manner that accounts for social equity environmental protection
and economic prosperity particular to their locale.
Table 1: SD Standards - Categories Input by Designer
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BREEAM
The Building Research Establishment (BRE) is the UK's leading centre
of expertise on buildings, construction, energy, environment, fire
and risk. For more than a decade, BRE’s Environmental Assessment
Method (BREEAM) has been used, mostly in the UK, to assess the environmental
performance of both new and existing buildings in several categories
(Table 1). It is regarded by the UK’s construction and property
sectors as the measure of best practice in environmental design
and management.
Though the principles of BREEAM are applicable to many types of
construction, the program is catered to offices, homes, industrial
and retail units. Other building types may be eligible through the
“Bespoke BREEAM” version by first having BRE define
the criteria and then having a BREEAM assessor check the building
against the set criteria.
PB is a licensed assessor company with four certified assessors.
We have preformed BREEAM assessments for the Edgar Allen House in
Sheffield and the Number 1 Hagley Road building in Birmingham. For
more information on BRE and BREEAM, contact Darrel Strobel at StrobelD@pbworld.com1
CEEQUAL
Civil Engineering Environmental Quality Assessment and Award Scheme
(CEEQUAL) is a civil engineering equivalent to BREEAM with environmental
performance in mind. The current version applies to the UK, but
a Europe-wide version is under development. The considerations under
CEEQUAL are listed in Table 1. With only eight awarded projects
to date, CEEQUAL is likely to have a strong growing period ahead.
For more information, contact Marta Karlik-Neale, PB’s first
CEEQUAL assessor, at KarlikNealeM@pbworld.com.
HK-BEAM
The Hong Kong Building Environmental Assessment Method (HK-BEAM),
established in 1996 is a voluntary assessment tool based on BREEAM.
Initially, the system looked at environmental issues under global,
local and indoor impacts in two versions, one for new buildings
and another for existing buildings (both of which are currently
being revamped). In 1999 the system was edited for offices and a
new assessment tool was created for high-rise buildings. More than
100 buildings have been assessed under HK-BEAM. Aspects considered
can be found in Table 1.
HK-BEAM complements current regulations, such as Hong Kong Planning
Standards and Guidelines (KHPSG) and the Environmental Impact Assessment
(EIA) Ordinance which address land use, construction and building
operation. For more information, please contact Colin Chi-Leong
Chung at Chung.colin@pbworld.com.
CEPAS
Comprehensive Environmental Performance Assessment Scheme (CEPAS)
resulted from a study commissioned by the Hong Kong government in
third quarter 2002. Under this assignment, Ove ARUP& Partners
Hong Kong, Ltd. developed this new assessment method, which focuses
on new buildings and redevelopment within urban renewal. It is not
known if the results will be combined with the HK-BEAM program or
if CEPAS will compete with HK-BEAM.
USGBC and LEED
The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), which was formed in 1993
and is member of the World Green Building Council, is considered
by many to be the U.S.’s foremost coalition of building industry
leaders dedicated to promoting buildings that are environmentally
responsible, profitable, and healthy places to live and work. USGBC
developed the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)
Green Building Rating System™ in 1995. LEED is a voluntary,
consensus-based national standard for developing high-performance,
sustainable buildings.
The growth of the LEED certification program reaches far beyond
the U.S. Certified projects have been built in Sri Lanka, Canada
and India; and registered projects are in Brazil, China, Curacao,
Guam, Italy, Japan, and Spain. In addition, Canada recently became
the first country outside the U.S. to license the use of LEED.
The categories in which buildings are rated are shown in Table
1. Only enclosed buildings are eligible for certification due to
the nature of the prerequisites, but the LEED principles are applicable
to most construction projects.
The LEED Green Building Rating System is currently available for
new construction (LEED-NC), and pilot (test) versions are available
for existing building operations (LEED-EB), commercial interiors
(LEED-CI), and core and shell (LEED-CS). Programs are under development
for homes (LEED-H), multiple buildings (LEED-MB), and neighborhood
development (LEED-ND). Application guides, which work as supplements
to LEED-NC, are under development for schools (LEED-AGS), retail
(LEED-AGR), healthcare (LEED-AGHC), and laboratories (LEED-AGL).
USGBC continues to refine and improve its existing standards to
ensure its goals for sustainability are met, with criteria for human
health being one area under consideration.
PB joined USGBC in 1999. As of August 2004, 30 employees had become
LEED Accredited Professionals and about another 130 were studying
for the exam2. PB employees wishing to become LEED Accredited Professionals
or wanting more information on LEED or USGBC should contact me at
JohnsonSuz@pbworld.com.
GBCA and Green Star
Launched in 2002, the Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA)
has already created Green Star rating tools for office design, office
as built, and office interiors, and is anticipating the release
of rating tools for office existing. Credit categories are listed
in Table 1.
The two prerequisites for a Green Star building are that it has
a base building energy performance of 4 stars based on the Australian
building Greenhouse Rating (ABGR) program and that its site not
be on land of high ecological or social value. Unlike other assessment
tools, credits are given a weight based on the location of the project
to reflect the different needs and ecologies of the States of Australia.
The certification process is similar to that of LEED. For more
information on GBCE and Green Star, contact Sarah Kemp at WeaverS@Pbworld.com.
Sarah is PB’s first Green Star Accredited Professional.
NABERS
The Australian Government Department of the Environment and Heritage
(DEH) developed National Australian Built Environment Rating System
(NABERS), performance-based rating system measuring an existing
building’s overall operational environmental performance (see
Table 1). User Spreadsheets are available for commercial office
whole building, residential homes, commercial office tenancy, and
commercial office base buildings. DEH has received Expressions of
Interest to commercialize NABERS and is now creating the tender
process.
Protocollo ITACA
The federal association of the Italian regions and autonomous provinces
formed Innovation and Transparency of the Contracts and Environmental
Compatibility (ITACA) to define green building and serve as an assessment
standard. In October 2003, the first version of Protocollo ITACA
was released and has been adopted by some regions. Table 1 lists
the seven areas of evaluation, which apply to whole buildings. Since
the first release, two simplified versions were released in 2004
with scientific certainty, public interest and simplicity in mind.
For more information on Protocollo ITACA, contact me at JohnsonSuz@pbworld.com
CASBEE
Comprehensive Assessment System for Building Environmental Efficiency
(CASBEE), a standard followed in Japan, uses building environmental
efficiency (BEE) as a basis for assessment by dividing the building
environmental quality and performance by the building environmental
loads. CASBEE has a variety of assessment tools. The considerations
of CASBEE are shown in Table 1.
Singapore Green Plan 2012
The Singapore Green Plan 2012 is backed by Singapore’s Minister
for the Environment. This plan is admittedly ambitious, but it must
be for a country short on energy, water and land. Singapore’s
devotion to a “zero landfill” goal, protection of biodiversity,
energy efficiency for clean air, water conservation, improved public
health, community partnership, international collaboration, and
innovation for sustainability works to support the Green Plan. The
government encourages companies to seek ISO 14001 Certification
as participants in the Green Plan. PB’s Singapore office was
quick to meet that challenge. Currently there is no assessment tool,
but the guidelines of the Green Plan and the concept of conserve
and balance will likely play a role in all business in Singapore.
For more information, contact Chin Hwi Gan at Gan.ch@pbworld.com.
Taiwan’s Architecture and Building Research
Institute (ABRI)
Taiwan’s ABRI has proposed a “Green Building and Living
Environmental Technology Plan” and “Green Building Promotion
Program.” The focus of these two initiatives is on ecological
environmental technology, construction waste reduction, building
energy conservation, natural resource usage, indoor environmental
quality control, and green building demonstrative projects. The
Green Building Evaluation and Labeling System is developed for tropical
and subtropical regions. The goal is to begin with a green building
and move concentrically to green community, green city, and finally,
green country.
Environmental Management Systems and ISO 14001
An environmental management system (EMS) is a process of planning,
implementing, reviewing, and improving an organization’s actions
to meet business and environmental goals. The notion of “Plan,
Do, Check, Act” captures the essence of the cycle, keeping
the organization on the path of better environmental management
while, in turn, enhancing its public image and reducing costs and
liabilities.
The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) sets international
measurement standards for a wide variety of fields including date
and time format, engineering and technology methods, quantities
and units, and management systems. It is under management systems
that the ISO 14001 family of environmental standards falls. The
system is set up for the organizational level or for products and
services. Organizational level includes implementing an EMS, conducting
environmental audits, and evaluating environmental performance.
The product and service level includes using environmental declarations
and claims, conducting life cycle assessments and addressing environmental
aspects in products and product standards. PB’s headquarters
in New York, and our UK and Singapore offices have received ISO
14001 certification. As of August, 2004, our Portland, Oregon, and
Baltimore, Maryland, offices were on their way to certification,
and many others were under consideration.
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